Yaupon Capital Management LP Reduces Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Yaupon Capital Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 45,079 shares during the quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.09% of Ameren worth $20,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $600,157,000 after acquiring an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 96.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $273,527,000 after buying an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Ameren by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $172,907,000 after buying an additional 38,939 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

AEE traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $98.95. 847,428 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,586,525. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $98.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.68. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.22.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.